Published on: 20 Mar 2017

GL Assessment’s SEN Assessment Toolkit has won the prestigious Special Educational Resource or Equipment (non-ICT) at the 2017 Education Resources Awards. The trophy was handed to Shane Rae, GL Assessment’s Head of Product Management, Julia Garvey, GL Assessment’s Head of Marketing, and independent consultant, Lorraine Petersen by Dr Adam Boddison, the Chief Executive of nasen.

The SEN Assessment Toolkit has been created to help teachers and SENCos respond quickly to signs that a child may be experiencing barriers to learning. Made up of a series of proven assessments, the Toolkit can help identify issues and develop intervention strategies in four key areas: Dyslexia, Numeracy, Literacy and Mental Health. The Toolkit is made up of a number of individual assessments that have all been chosen to ensure that whenever an issue is highlighted, schools have a relevant assessment that helps provide impartial evidence, as well as help inform interventions.

Patrick Hayes, who chaired the judging of the Education Resources Awards on behalf of BESA, said: “The judges felt that this comprehensive range of assessment tools should provide SENCos and class teachers with all they need to follow up concerns and properly determine a pupil's learning needs. A useful, 'go to' product to support interventions in class.”

Greg Watson, Chief Executive of GL Assessment, said: “I think it’s fair to say that the role of the SENCo has never been more challenging. According to the latest statistics, 14.4% of pupils in England have SEN and one in ten children and young people have a clinically diagnosed mental health disorder and/or emotional or behavioural problems. And these are the children we know about. Many children fall below the radar and slip by unnoticed because their behaviour and progress is ‘good enough’, but in reality, a barrier to learning means they are not being stretched to achieve all they are capable of.

“The identification of SEN needs to be built into a school’s overall approach to monitoring the development of all pupils, and this Toolkit gives teachers and SENCos the flexibility to use an appropriate assessment to identify barriers to learning as quickly and accurately as possible. We think that it is a valuable addition to any school and we are delighted that it has been recognised in this way.”

Lorraine Petersen OBE, independent SEND consultant, said: “This Toolkit has been developed to ensure that your school has the basic SEN assessment tools you may require to help identify and intervene as soon as you are aware that a pupil may be experiencing difficulties. By bringing together a number of tried and tested products, GL Assessment has developed a one-stop-shop for SEN assessments.”